Early in the morning of April 26, 1986, reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine exploded, sending 192 tonnes of radioactive material into the atmosphere and releasing 90 times the combined radioactivity of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
 

Wind and weather conditions of the day deposited 70% of the fallout on neighbouring Belarus contaminating 99% of that small country. Twenty four years later, forty percent remains seriously contaminated. According to official reports, thirty-one people died immediately and 600,000 “liquidators,” involved in fire fighting and clean-up operations, were exposed to the high doses of radiation. According to figures issued by government agencies in the three former Soviet republics affected, about 25,000 of the 600,000 liquidators have so far died as a result of their exposure to radiation. According to the Liquidators' Committee, the total number of deaths is really 100,000. These figures are however disputed.
 

It is estimated that over 15 million people have been victimized by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in some way. Based on the official reports, 8,400,000 people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were exposed to the initial radiation. Nearly 404,000 people were resettled and millions continue to live in an environment where continued residual exposure to radiation has created a range of adverse effects. The legacy of this disaster will most affect the "Children of Chernobyl". Child mortality rates in Belarus are 300 times the rest of Europe and in Belarus only 15-20% of babies are now born completely healthy. At least 1800 children and adolescents in the most severely contaminated areas of Belarus have contracted cancer of the thyroid as a result of the reactor disaster, an increase of 6,000 percent. World Health Organization projections for the coming decades estimate the number of cases in children at 50,000 and as many as 100,000 in all age groups.
 

There are currently 7,000 children in Belarus who were born with multiple holes in their heart, a condition known as "Chernobyl Heart” awaiting surgery. Even with extensive international help, only about 800 children are receiving life saving surgery each year. Hundreds don’t survive the wait. Dozens of other diseases from Leukemia and other forms of cancer, to diabetes have all increased dramatically following the accident as long-term exposure to radiation weakens the children’s immune systems.
 

Over 800,000 children still live in contaminated areas of Belarus. Each year over 56,000 Belarusian children and teenagers travel for respite and medical care to 26 countries. Corresponding programs are in place for Russia and the Ukraine as well. Despite North America’s great wealth and the best efforts of numerous volunteer organizations; the United States and Canada will each host less than 1% of these children.